Chisholm - Maybe The Raptors Should Try Davis/Johnson With Wright & Kleiza Together

If they were willing to use guys like Amir Johnson and Ed Davis as the 'centres' for the club, then they could open up playing time for Linas Kleiza and Julian Wright at both forward spots (both players project better as power forwards, anyway). Doing so allows Kleiza to use the post game he spent so much time working on in Europe last season and it would help negate Wright's poor shooting and handles while allowing him use his quickness against bigger matchups. Some of his best play, actually, came as a power forward in replacement of an injured David West. He had a PER of 18.9 last season when he played power forward for the Hornets, compared to just 9.8 as a small forward. His defense may allow him to lineup at the 'three', but his whole game is better suited to the 'four'.

Wright would also be an interesting defensive matchup against power forwards like Josh Smith, Andray Blatche, Jeff Green and Rashard Lewis since he can match their speed and mobility better than Johnson and Andrea Bargnani can. On a roster with so many young, athletic pieces to play with it would behoove the Raptors to find as many combinations as possible to allow that athleticism to overwhelm opponents since it appears to be one of the only advantages this team appears to have on paper over their foes.

If Wright is better at defending quicker players than Johnson then Johnson needs to continue to work big time on his footwork and positioning on defense, which he probably needs to anyway. However, I doubt that Wright is faster than Johnson though Wright is pretty fast. It would be interesting to see them run a 100 meter dash against one another.

When a team is mostly made up of PFs w/ no or very little post game- Bargnani, Davis, Johnson, Dorsey, Andersen, Evans & Kleiza (reality check he's a stretch 4), the coach is gonna have to play someone out of position at center or juggle the line ups ie small ball, unless TO acquires another quality NBA big man via trade.

Davis would get beat up in the post plus banging with NBA level centers could take its toll on his (skinny) body- think CB4, in my mind. I would actually go the other way with Davis and see if he could play some power 3 ala Worthy for the Rap's during training camp.

Amir, who has buffed up this summer, could play spot minutes at the 5 when the Raps want to run or against opponents second team centers.

Evans would be best suited to play center as he has the body and mindset to bang in the paint- he just lacks the height which he makes up for with his hustle game. If he's not traded by the start of the season he may very well start at center if BC really wants Bargnani to play the 4 this upcoming season as has been implied by BC and others as his natural position.

None of the players mentioned has a certified post game- and Reggie need not shoot anything unless it's an offensive put back off of a rebound, and I'm really interested to see what Kleiza can do or can't do in the post against NBA players on a consistent basis.

Wright actually has some very nice handles and dribbles well in the open court, his in traffic dribbling could use work but he can take it to the hole off the bounce and finish above the rim with authority. Now, his J does need work in order to be more consistent which comes with summer reps but his shooting form is almost textbook.

Training camp should be interesting especially if Jay/BC let the players fight for their rotation spots instead of playing contracts over talent.

Very interesting article Buddahfan. It really helps open everyone's eyes to a bright part of Wright's game which few are talking about. The Raptors are loaded at PF right now though and it's tough to say if Ed or Amir can handle playing center. Both would be light weights. On the other hand Colangelo has said they're going to be playing small ball...

Very interesting article Buddahfan. It really helps open everyone's eyes to a bright part of Wright's game which few are talking about. The Raptors are loaded at PF right now though and it's tough to say if Ed or Amir can handle playing center. Both would be light weights. On the other hand Colangelo has said they're going to be playing small ball...

I think it could work for couple of reasons.

Not right away but as the season goes on.

The reason is that the if you play two out of the three of Davis, Wright and Johnson with Kleiza DeRozan and Jack you can rebound pretty good by committee.

Most teams top scorers are not heavy bigs. There are for sure some heavy bigs that can and do score but for the most part the majority of scoring comes from the other 4 positions other than center. Wright Davis and Johnson are all pretty good defenders with a hell of a lot of length who can alter shots deflect passes, create turnovers etc.

So while I don't think that playing Wright along with Davis or Johnson will be an instant hit, I do think that it has some interesting possibilities.